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BIG news... The launch of MyBEER!

Phew. I'm exhausted writing this. Which means my teams at Prezence and Quirk must be equally exhausted. And it's only Thursday. Had to schedule this post because tomorrow, I drive up to the Clarens Beer Fest to launch MyBEER with our brave and pioneering sponsors, SAB.

I wanted to give you some behind-the-scenes context on this blog. So, no official schwarmy press releases, just some cool insight about a product that we're all really proud of.

By now, you're wondering if me and my team are starting to become booze hounds. Perhaps. But alcohol is an amazing product category, one where we need to be responsible - but also one where we see more product loyalty and engagement than most. As with any social product, you need to have a topic that people want to talk about, a vertical that people want to engage with. Engage with more than once. I love toasters. But I'm not sure I'd check into one :)

The other thing you will have noticed is that Real Time Wine was never really intended just for wine. Wine was the first play. And one that worked extremely well and we're going to keep putting as much love into it as we always have. Beer is the second play. And there's more coming soon.

I believe fundamentally in communities. The world is too noisy not to. We are creating product vertical communities where passionate fans get to engage and discover more about their favourite products. And have fun doing it.

MyBEER is targeted at all beer drinkers in South Africa. We're trying to putting a product engagement layer ontop of South Africa's favourite product vertical. It's not as much about reviews as it is about experiences. What beer are you drinking? Where did you find it? Where are you? What are you doing? How does it taste?

Not only that, but we're also witnessing an amazing growth (mega trend) in craft beer. Craft Beer is a definitely a product set that could benefit from some peer referral. First time I heard of Pumpkin and Mint beer, I think I threw up in my mouth a little. But it's actually pretty nice :) Now I can tell someone about that. Digitally.

MyBEER runs on the same platform as Real Time Wine. You'll see the similarity in UX - good news for everyone that likes Real Time Wine! I'm particularly fond of the design. Quirk pulled out what we can only describe as cartoon-gentlemen-western. Or gentlelady. Lady Cowboys are cooler anyway. So are Lady Beer Drinkers :)

Quirk did the design. Prezence did the dev, front end implementation and worked with us on product structure. SAB taught us all that we really know nothing about beer! A cool collaboration.

Enough from me. Go out and play with it! Android app is live in the Play Store. Apple App should be live in a day or two (they're hard to predict, those Cupertino boys and girls). Otherwise it works perfectly on your mobile browser or desktop.

If you're coming to the Clarens Beer Festival - pop by and say hi. I'll be the douche with my nose in my phone and a beer in my hand.

MyBEER. A community of Beer Heroes. Saving the world... One Beer at a Time!

I'm personally looking forward to discovering some cool craft beer. Don't get me wrong. Hansa will always be there, through the good and bad. But I'm in the mood for some litchi-pumpkin-super-hardcore-something-with-a-hipster-name. Bring it.

See you on the app!

PS. That pic is of a Native Ale by Darling Brew. Taken outside Soccer City while having a skottel in the parking lot. When we ask you to share a "beer experience"... THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKIN' ABOUT!

PPS Thanks again to my investors and advisory board for believing in this company.

PPPS. I had another strap line. It didn't make it through. I'm going to stick in here. Because I can. And it gives you a little personality insight into this community. It's oh so melodramatic.